Starting With This Feeling
by miss-chic
Summary: reposted due to editing problems. Serena has got a problem that she needs someone to help her out with it and Darien is the winning candidate
1. Chapter 1

12/11/07

12/15/07 reposted/edited

Serena was feeling the itch. The one that only a good hard stiff fuck would cure.

But here was a problem.

She didn't have a boyfriend to relieve it.

'Hell', she thought to herself, 'I'd take a girl if she knew what she was doing'.

She had just left her last class of the day and was heading towards to Union Café - located at the center of campus. It was basically a giant coffee house with couches in one section, a coffee bar located across from it and tables in between for studying or meeting up with someone. The coffee bar sold small things to eat like sandwiches, chips and other basic snack foods.

Serena took a place in a relatively short line and when it was her turn, she ordered a chocolate shake. After picking up her drink, she wandered over towards a couch that was situated against the wall and in a corner. She was able to people watch without being too obvious.

Contrary to what most of her friends though, Serena wasn't completely oblivious to her surroundings. Just because she talked a lot and sometimes had her 'blonde' moments, didn't mean that she was a complete dunce. Her roommate Mina knew the feeling, though Mina had more credit than Serena which didn't really bother Serena too much but it was enough for her to take notice.

The café was fairly empty but probably because it was midterm season. Most were in the library instead of a distracting café. However there were a few groups occupying tables.

Serena sipped her drink, her thoughts meandering around. She was thinking of a solution to her itch. There was a possible solution however, how to go about executing it was another problem. She pulled out her phone from her bag and began going through her contacts.

There was no way she was going to pick up some random guy. She needed someone she could trust but also someone who wasn't too close with her as well. She didn't need the emotional attachment and didn't want to deal with the messy aspects of a relationship. Someone who could handle her need without wanting anything back. No strings attached.

Serena had plenty of guy friends and acquaintances, but as no one popped immediately into her head.

"Serena". Serena looked up from her phone and into Darien's dark azure eyes. Serena smiled at him. To call them friends was a bit much but call them acquaintances wasn't enough. They never really saw eye to eye, and were known to butt heads over something. But they had the same mutual friends so it was hard not to see each other. They had moments when they were civil towards one another, and here was one of those times.

"Hey Darien!" she said. She patted at the seat next to her on the couch and he sat down.

"Finished with class?" he asked her. She nodded and repeated back the question. When Darien also said yes, they found that they had nothing else to really say and fell into an awkward silence.

Serena knew Darien as a good friend of Kevin. Kevin was a guy who had a major crush on Mina, who was Serena's roommate. They were all the in same year in college. Kevin and Darien lived off campus separately while the girls lived in an on campus co-ed dorm called Wafers. Kevin and Darien were also friends with Jason who is also Serena's cousin.

"So-" they both started. They grinned at each other but fell into another awkward silence.

"You start," he said to her.

"Oh, well I didn't really have anything to say. I was just… I don't know, filling in the silence?" Her phone rang before Darien said anything back, and she apologized before looking at the caller ID. It was Gary, a guy who sat with her in Biology who was also her lab partner. Gary was a nice enough guy but there was something about him that annoyed Serena. Serena chose to ignore his phone call and turned her attention back to Darien.

"Are you going to Ami's party?" he asked. Ami lived in a quaint little house in a neighborhood that was adjacent to the school campus. The neighborhood had young couples as well as students who could afford a house. Ami, with her full blown scholarship and her generous paid internship at the local hospital, she was able to afford a pretty nice house. Ami lived with a roommate, another intern from the hospital – Zach Griffen.

"Yeah. I haven't seen Raye, Jason or Lita in a while" she told him.

"Yeah, it's kind of crazy how suddenly Raye and Justin went from hating each others' guts to becoming attached at the hip" he said.

"And locked in his bedroom" she muttered. Serena was happy for Raye, one of her oldest friends, for finally seeing what every other girl saw in Jason. And for also finding someone who would stand toe to toe to with her and made her less uptight. 'Maybe,' thought Serena, 'constantly getting laid did that for her'. It would seem logical with the guaranteed sex from a boyfriend. The idea and advantage irked Serena who was alone and with an itch.

Serena glanced over at Darien. 'hmmm…?' she though to herself.

With a sudden burst of confidence she asked Darien to take her home. Darien somewhat surprised at Serena wanting to be alone with him in his car agreed.

They left and walked towards the general student parking lot. Darien could sense a weird tension around her and wondered at it. He glanced at her from the corner of his eye and saw what every other boy with raging hormones to old men saw.

Serena - a beautiful girl. She had long shiny blond hair that was currently hanging straight down. A heart shaped face with a stubborn jaw and a perky nose. She was perky in other places as well he noted. Thick lashes rimmed cerulean eyes and a pink cupid's bow mouth that looked like they needed to be kissed.

'Wait …What?'

Darien was a little perturbed by his last thought. But he was careless in his musings as Serena turned to look at him and asked him why he was staring at her like that.

"Oh nothing." He replied with a slight blush.

'What the hell" he thought. 'Am I seriously blushing?'

They reached his car – a black on black 2008 Lexus IS350.

He unlocked the car and opened the door on the passenger side for Serena. She was surprised by this gesture but recovered quickly before her surprise made it more awkward. She slipped into the smooth leather seats and put her backpack on the floor between her knees and pulled on her seatbelt as he walked towards the back of the car. He opened his trunk and put in his own backpack and climbed into the front seat.

He turned the car on and turned on the A/C and radio. Music blasted out and he turned it down with an apologetic smile to her when he noticed her jump in surprise. She smiled back and looked ahead. He pulled out of the parking lot and off of the school campus.


	2. Chapter 2

12/16/07

The door slammed shut. Followed by a loud thud that seemed louder than it really was in the quiet hallway.

On the other side of the door, she was pinned to the door with her legs around his waist and one of her hands gripping his shoulder and the other hand buried in his hair as her arm was wrapped around his head anchoring his lips to hers.

His hands were at her waist; his legs braced apart, his whole body pushing her into the door. Almost painfully through the door, but she loved the pressure. And he knew it.

One of his hands slipped under her shirt, as his other hand pushed between the door and the base of her neck to grasp at her hair. He pulled gently, breaking their lips apart and kissing down the long column of her throat.

She moaned and shifted her legs slightly, tightening them, bringing him in closer contact to her and causing a slight friction that made him moan. She grinned. She loved the sounds that he made. Like he couldn't help it.

He pushed her shirt up under armpits, baring her black bra that made her skin glow. He moved down from her neck, and kissed her chest down to her cleavage – his tongue running along the edges of her bra. She tilted her head back down and watched him through hooded eyes.

He looked up at her as his tongue dipped in between her cleavage. She grinned back at him before grasping his hair and yanking his head back up to kiss him.

He smiled through their kissing and wrapped both of his arms under her and carried her further into the apartment.

Passing the messy living room, he almost tripped over a pair of tennis shoes.

She let out a very embarrassing squeal and held on to him tighter. He laughed as he caught himself, and gave her a smacking kiss on his cheek. She raised her head from the crook of his neck and glared at him.

He kissed her on the nose before continuing on into the bedroom.

The room was sparsely furnished with a large queen sized bed that off center and a balcony with sliding patio doors. The bathroom door was located to the right of the bedroom door, but he headed towards the bed.

Bathroom sex was for later.

She lost her momentum and felt the free falling sensation before bouncing on the bed.

"Jason!" she yelled out in her surprise.

"Raye!" he answered with a devilish grin as he jumped into the bed after her.

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	3. Chapter 3

12/27/07

The drive off of campus and to his place was in silence.

The music from the radio was playing and the sunroof was open, letting in the bright sun and wind. But otherwise the two were not speaking with each other.

Both of them had on their sunglasses and were busy looking everywhere else but at each other.

He shifted the gears of the car, navigating them back to his place. She was looking out the window and was also covertly looking at him through her dark Chanel shades.

He was doing the same through his own dark Ray-Ban sunglasses. 'What is going on?' he thought. How he got into the current situation was obvious enough but his mind still couldn't understand how it fell into place.

Sure they had the same group of friends but that didn't make them really good friends. The first time they met, they had rubbed each other the wrong way and were more stand offish towards each other and sometimes down right hostile to be actual friends.

Some of their friends had pointed out to them that maybe it was the sexual tension between them but they both laughed it off, but their friends remained unconvinced. It seemed that the more they tried to fight the chemistry between them, the more obious it was to everyone else around them.

Now, Serena had a problem and something akin to Fate decided to nudge her conscience towards picking Darien.

Serena knew she was acting weird but there really was no other way to go about the situation. She had to be clear and direct and to the point to get the plan to work. Hopefully he would accept and things could more on steadily. If he didn't, well, Serena didn't really want to go too deep into thinking about that.

Rejection and humiliation weren't feelings that Serena was a stranger to but that didn't mean that she wanted them either way.

Traffic wasn't bad since they made it off campus before rush hour. He lived fairly close to campus, but it was still a drive.

"Are you hungry?" he asked her. Hoping that she was. It was common knowledge that Serena was always hungry and a bottomless stomach despite her petite and trim figure.

"Oh, no I'm okay actually"

'Liar' he thought to himself. Something was definitely wrong if she wasn't hungry.

"Do you mind if I pick something up?"

"No, that's fine. Where are you thinking of going?"

"I thought you weren't hungry?"

"Well, since you're eating, how can I pass it up?" She smiled at him and he smiled back as they both knew about her bottomless stomach despite her thin and fit figure. He was relieved to find that it was really her politeness that was holding her back and not something else.

"How about Jimmy John's?"

"Sounds good," she told him. He turned off the main street and headed towards the sandwich shop. He pulled in the small parking lot and parked.

They both got out of the car and he pushed the button on his keychain to lock the car. He opened to door to the shop for her and walked in after her.

They were both greeted by the enthusiastic employees and looked to the menu.

The shop was relatively quiet as it was too early for dinner and way past lunch time.

"I can get your order whenever you guys are ready" said the girl at the cash register. Serena noticed that she was eyeing Darien appreciatively. She narrowed her eyes slightly but the girl was oblivious as she continued to stare at Darien. As she raised her eyes from staring and practically drooling at Darien's tight ass, she caught Serena's glare and jerked her gaze away, blushing.

'Mine,' Serena thought. 'Wait, mine?' She shook her head slightly and turned back to look at the menu.

Not yet of course. She still had to propose the plan to him and he still had to accept it before. But then again, the plan that she had in her mind had nothing to do with exclusive rights on each other.

Instead, she wanted a more friends with benefits kind of deal. But she wanted it wiht someone she wasn't too close with so that in case something happened, the friendship lost wouldn't be one close to her heart.

It made her seem callus, but she really didn't think of any other solution and Darien fit what she thought she needed.

Sure she had been in relationships before but she never loved any of them. She wanted what Rei had. The sexual chemistry, someone to stand toe to toe with her, someone to just be there with her and know everything about her just by looking at her. But that was next to impossible even though she thought that Rei had achieved that.

She shook her head slightly again to clear her thoughts and concentrated on picking something to eat from the menu. She never noticed the staring from the male employees from behind the counter. Serena was generally oblivious to that sort of thing.

Darien turned his head to ask her if she was ready and when she nodded, he turned towards the girl at the cash register to order.

The girl was blushing as she took his order and was about to tell him his total when he stopped her and told Serena to place her order as well.

"Hey, I got this"

"No, it's okay"

"No really it's my treat"

"...Thanks"

Serena place her order and grabbed both of their cups and Darien told her what he wanted to drink. She walked towards the soda machine located closer to the back of the shop. She filled both their cups with ice and Coke before putting the plastic lid on each and grabbed two straws.

She went to a booth near the window and sat down. Darien stood near the counter to pick up their orders and watched her do all of this and noticed out of the corner of his eye that some of the male employees were also watching her.

'Mine,' he thought. 'Wait, what?' He was confused by his thoughts. Did he want a relationship with Serena? The girl that drove him crazy to no end but also the girl who he couldn't seem to get out of his mind or his dreams for that matter.

He'd be a fool to not recognize the attraction between them but he also noticed the tension. He denied what their mutual friends had said about them but the idea was already planted in his head. The thoughts that accompanied them were lodged in his mind as well as he could and sometimes did fantasize about her.

But everytime he told himself to be nicer to her, to show her a different side of him, the plan backfired.

Before he even registered it, they were arguing with each other over something. Usually it was over the most meaningless things but with both of them being stubborn neither would back down. They were almost like an old married couple, except with the make-up sex afterwards.

He sighed to himself and tried to rein in whatever it was that was making him be nicer to her.

'I want her' he thought to himself. And for some reason, after admitting that to himself, even though he was in a sandwich shop, it made more sense to him. Everything just suddenly made sense. He felt right about it. He didn't feel scared by the idea but comforted by it.

He was never in a monogamous relationship before. He had dated a few girls here and there and certainly had his fair share of fun with the ladies but he never had the urge to take it more from there.

He knew that there were times when he was with a girl and the girl wanted more, even though they denied it, but he always knew. He would always gently let them go. Some left quietly with dignity but there were also a few who who begged to stay with him, tricked him, lied to him and those were just delusional.

Like the last girl he got with – Beryl Addison.

He shuddered at the thought of her. Sure the girl was tall, gorgeous and was great in bed but she was like a snake. She was conniving and manipulative, but that wasn't really what turned him off. It was her control issues that triggered his commitment issues.

Thus the break-up and the inevitable stalking that Beryl was currently resorting to to get his attentions again. The last thing she had told him was that she was pregnant but he soon found out that that was a lie and he had changed from try to be nice about it.

As an orphan, Darien knew the importance of family. In fact, he was starved for it. But it wasn't something he broadcasted or shared. The death of his parents happened when he was quite young, but he had an elderly grandfather who was his only remaining relative.

Unfortunately shortly after he had come to live wtih his grandfather, his grandfather passed away. Leaving Darien even more alone but also even richer. He had a trust fund that was given to him by his mother that he recieved when he was 18 years old. It was a significant amount of money. Then there was the multi-billion dollar corporation that his father and grandfather ran together. The company had been around for almost 5 generations and Darien was also to inherit it upon the death of his father. But since he was very young when his father died, his grandfather had come out of retirement and taken over the company despite his ailing health.

After his grandfather died, the company was rightfully Darien who was still only a few years old. Thankfully, a good family friend of Darien's father and grandfather stepped in to manage the company in Darien's behalf until Darien was ready to come in and run the company.

But that wasn't happening anytime soon.

In fact, Darien was happy with his life and he didn't picture himself running a Fortune 500 company at all.

Darien was shaken out of his memories when their order was ready. He picked up the sandwiches and gave the male employees a hard glare that signified that he wanted them to stop staring at Serena and back off. He walked over to the booth that she had chosen near the window and sat down. He unwrapped his sandwich and she proceeded to do the same and they started eating.

Even their meal was in relative silence between them. There were moments when they caught the other staring at each other. There were no successful attempts to keep a conversation going between them that didn't have a large percentage of chance of them getting into an argument.

Finally, unable to take it anymore, Darien straight out asked Serena what was going on and why was she acting so weird.

A little bit shocked by his sudden direct questioning she choked on the bite of sandwich she had in her mouth and grapped her drink to wash it down the right pipe.

She finished chewing what she had in her mouth and was about to tell him when the door to the shop opened and in walked Anne Hearst.

Anne was an attractive girl with short wavy red hair that fell to her shoulders. She had piercing green eyes that were tilted upwards towards the corners – like cat eyes. She had a sharp nose and chin and even sharper mouth.

She always had something against Serena and was always putting Serena down whenever they ran into each other. Anne was in one of Serena's discussion groups in a past semester and always made Serena feel like a completely idiot.

It also wasn't a secret that Anne, like many other females and even some males on campus, lusted after Darien.

Darien had his back to the door didn't notice Anne coming into the shop but Serena did. She froze and almost had a deer in headlights expression on her face when she saw Anne. Hoping that Anne wouldn't notice them, Serena jerked her gaze down at her sandwich and prayed to whatever god was listening to make Anne not notice her.

'Please, please please'

Darien on the other hand was still waiting for Serean to answer his question. He was about to call her name when he interuppted by a loud shriek that sounded like it was right by his ear.

"SERENA!"

He winced and turned slightly to see Anne Hearst. His own eyes widen slightly before he narrowed them at Anne.

"OH MY GOSH! DARIEN! I HAVEN'T SEEN YOU IN LIKE FOREVER!" Anne screeched as she dragged out 'forever' making it seem like she said 'for-everrr'.

"Anne, hey," he replied with as much enthusiasm he could muster.

Which really wasn't all that much considering that he wasn't really a fan of Anne even though she clearly a fan of his.

"AND SERENA! GIRL WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?" Anne continued to screech much to the dismay of everyone around her.

"Hey Anne. Just –" Before Serena could finish, Anne had already turned back her attention and her body towards Darien. Her rude gesture was not lost on Darien as he narrowed his eyes at Anne and scowled.

"M'am you're order is up"

Anne ignored the employee and contined to look at Darien. She angled her body to stand with one hip jutted out and placed on hand on her hip. Hoping to look sexy to Darien, to entice him. Instead, Darien saw right through her.

He wrapped up his sandwich and looked over to see Serena staring quite avidly at her own sandwich. He found it strange that she hadn't done more when Anne had been so rude to her. She never lacked the courage to stand up against him.

He reached his hand across the table and grabbed Serena's hand. She jerked and looked up at him in surprise.

As Anne was about to start one some meaningless chit chat, Darien cut her off and annoucned that he was just about to leave.

"Sorry Anne, but I just realized Serena and I have to be somewhere." He wrapped up Serena's sandwich for her and stood up. Anne moved over slightly to let Darien out of the booth seat and watched as he grabbed both his and Serena's sandwich in one hand adn his drink in the other.

Serena continued to sit in the booth with a dumb founded expression on her face.

"Come on Serena, we have to go to that thing that you were talking about earlier"

Serena jumped up. "Oh yeah, that thing. Yeah let's go".

She grabbed her own drink and followed Darien out of the door.

"See you later Anne!" Darien called out to her right before he was out of the door. He didn't miss that dirty look that Anne had shot Serena as Serena followed him out of the shop.

He walked briskly to his car and unlocked it. Slidding into the driver seat and slamming the door shut, he turned the ignition and Serena got in right before he shifted the car in reverse and with tires screeching, he pulled out of the parking lot.

"What the hell is going on Serena"

And at that moment, that's when she knew that life wasn't going to be easy or the same anymore.


	4. Chapter 4

1/22/08

"Just tell me what is going on," he asked as he drove through the streets.

She was at first silent, knowing that this was her chance. This was her moment to seize, but she could feel herself choking up with fear.

"Sere-"

"My mother use to do this to me as a child," she started. "When I asked her to go somewhere like the park, she would answer me 'Let's not and just say we did'. It was her answer to all my requests for a long time".

He tightened his grip on his steering wheel as he imagined Serena as a young girl with bright blue eyes and a crown of light blonde hair that curled slightly. He had always thought she led a full and happy life. Something about her when he had first met her made him assume that she was one of the happy people in the world. Growing up without a care about anything, or knowing what sorrow really was.

How wrong he was now.

"Eventually, I stopped asking and she stopped saying that to me," she paused. "I don't even know where she even got it from" she whispered as she looked at the passing scenery.

He waited for her to say more, and when she didn't seem to add anymore information as to why she was acting the way she was, he asked "Serena, I feel like there is something you want to tell me or ask me. It's weird, but I mean whatever it is, it's okay. I promise not to laugh"

She turned and looked at his profile. She saw how beautiful he was and her breath was caught in her throat as this was the first time she really saw him. The afternoon sun lit up his tan face with his dark piercing eyes and strong jaw. She had the sudden urge to lean over and kiss along that strong jaw - featherweight butterfly kisses.

She gave out a soft sigh and looked down between them. She watched him absently shifting gears and said "So lets, just say I did tell you what is going on with me and you didn't laugh at me but I didn't really say anything at all".

He looked over at her and she turned to look straight ahead. He wanted to say more, but he couldn't find the words or a response to that.

"Please, just take me home" she requested.

He turned his attention back to the road and drove her home.

The rest of the car ride was in silence, both pretending to understand and know what Serena had originally wanted but in truth she never explained any of it at all.

--------------------------

He dropped her off in front of her dorm and she thanked him for the ride.

He didn't say anything to her.

He didn't seem angry to her. There seemed to be no emotion from him at all. He was cold and lifeless like a rock.

She got out of the car and walked towards the front doors into the lobby of her dorm all without looking back and he didn't wait to make sure she made it inside safely.

She was numb to the other students coming and going in the lobby and as she waited for the elevator, she had the sudden urge to cry.

'Wait until you're in your room. Safe' she told herself. She pursed her lips and blinked rapidly a couple times. She ducked her head slightly, using her hair to shield her face. She felt foolish and like a drama queen but ultimately she felt ashamed of herself.

As she walked into her room, she called out faintly for her roommate Mina. Hoping that she wasn't home and finding her not was a relief.

A questioning and pitying look was not something Serena wanted to deal with at the moment. But some small part of her didn't want to be alone. She wanted someone there to comfort her without asking questions first.

But she was alone. She toed off her shoes along the way to her room, tugging off her backpack and dropping it along the way.

She closed the door to her room and flopped down on the extra long twin sized mattress and let out a big long sigh. She stared at the blank wall, watching it start to blur as her tears came and she let them fall.

Soaking into her sheets, into the mattress, all without letting out a sound.

She had perfected the art of crying silently long ago.

--------------------

As for Mina, she was having her own dilemma in another apartment…

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They each were panting hard, like racehorses after a long race, fighting to slow their thundering hearts.

The fan above spun lazily, cooling their hot bodies, drying the sweat on them.

She shivered slightly from her position sprawled on top of his chest. Both of her arms cradled between their hot bodies, as her legs were straddled across his pelvis. One of his big warm hands was on her lower back; the other flopped on the bed close to his head.

She could hear his heart thudding in his chest and feel her own heart beat matching his. He gave a little groan and she sighed as he slipped out from inside of her. He shifted so that they were both lying on their sides facing each other. He kept his one hand on her lower back to hold her close to him, while the hand that was formerly flopped on the bed was now propping his head up to look down at her.

Her golden hair was in disarray – some of it was plastered to her head with her sweat while the rest was tangled and she had the distinct look of a woman who just had a good time in bed. He liked her with her bed head. Her blue eyes were still closed and she was still panting slightly but not as hard as before. She licked her dry and slightly bruised lips and his eyes followed the path her tongue took, watching it wet the two pink lips before disappearing back into her warm sweet mouth.

He wanted to kiss her again, to repeat what had just happened and to keep her with him for just those extra seconds and keep her from returning to reality.

She opened her eyes and found herself staring at his well-defined chest. She stared at his hard rock chest and her hands were resting against his tight abs. Her fingers were absently tracing his defined abs and he shivered slightly at her touch.

They didn't speak to each other. No words could really describe or convey their thoughts accurately.

Plus he wasn't that much of a talker.

The late afternoon sun filtered in through the blinds of his sliding glass doors that led onto a small balcony that also held a lone lawn chair and random plant.

The shadows of the day were creeping into the room as the sun went down. The slowly spinning fan caused the shadows to dance across the large bedroom.

Off to the side was a door that led to a decent sized bathroom with a shower stall, a bathtub, a sink and a toilet. Near the door to the bathroom, was the door to the walk in closet the held his business suits and his other clothes. All of his shoes neatly lined up on the floor, all of them neat and clean except for the shoes he wore for football practice.

The bedroom had one large queen sized bed that was extra long to accommodate his tall frame. It took up most of the space in the bedroom and sat right in the middle of the room as a focal point. There were two bedside tables that each held a dark shaded lamp. One of the bedside tables included his digital alarm clock and other miscellaneous items.

Directly across the end of the bed on the wall was a large LCD flat-screen TV bolted to the wall. Below the TV was a long narrow table that held his remote and random DVDs.

In the corner of his room was a tall six-drawer dresser with a large mirror on top of the dresser. His cologne, watch and some spare change were on top of the dresser.

His room, as well as his whole apartment was usually immaculate but currently the floor had his and her clothes scattered in a trail from the bedroom door to the bed. There was even articles of clothing outside the bedroom in the hallway that led from the front door into the bedroom.

Their meetings were usually like this. With no words exchanged between them as they tore each other's clothes off in their haste. This thing between them had only been going on for a few weeks.

He was about to actually say something to her when the shrill ring of a cell phone cut him off. It was his but he delayed in moving to answer it.

It rang again before he sighed and got up from the bed, detangling his arms from her and getting out of bed to look for his pants.

His pants were in a rumpled pile near the bed and he snagged them and looked through the pockets for his phone. Not finding his phone in there he frowned and wondered where it could be. He sat on his bed and looked around his room when her hand shot out with his phone.

He grabbed it from her and answered it. "Hello" he answered in his deep serious voice.

She watched him sitting at the end of the bed, naked talking on his cell phone. Whatever the other person had to say didn't illicit more than a one-word response or a grunt of acknowledgement from him but then again he wasn't much of a talker.

She pulled the sheet out from under her and covered it with herself with it. She lay back onto the bed and shifted her fingers through her tangled hair. She stared up at the ceiling, watching the fan spin, her fingers snagging onto a particularly nasty snarl. She pried her fingers loose from the snarl and pulled the hair in front of her face to look at it.

It was a pretty big knot and she slowly detangled it. By the time she was done with the knot, he was already off the phone.

He didn't move and didn't turn to look at her. Instead he got up and headed towards his bathroom. A moment later, the sound of running water could be heard.

She snuggled into his dark charcoal grey Egyptian cotton sheets tucking her arms around her head and the thick goose down pillow. She turned to lie facing the glass doors that took up one wall to the right of the bed and looked out through the blinds.

Being on the fortieth floor had its perks. No other building was as tall or taller so no one could look in through the open blinds.

The sky was streaked with pinks, blues, oranges and yellow as the sun descended over the horizon, signaling the end of a day.

She knew that she couldn't stay but she didn't want to go back to her place. Serena wasn't around and hadn't answered her phone and well; she didn't feel like being in anyone else's company tonight.

There was that new club that just opened up but then again a new club seemed to be always opening every weekend. She turned back onto her back and turned her head towards the opposite wall and looked at the bathroom door.

Though he had made the move to shut the door, the door was still slightly opened. Light from the bathroom rimmed the doorframe and she got out of bed.

She moved towards the door and pushed it opened to find the bathroom full of steam. She walked further into the bathroom and saw the faint outline of his body through the steamed up glass door of the shower stall.

He had both of his arms propped up in front of him, his head bowed as the water pounded onto his head. His white blonde hair was slightly darker with the water from the spout running down on it; covering his aristocratic features.

She knew his face – sharp piercing grey eyes, a strong jaw line and thin lips that usually were held in a firm straight line. As she thought about his lips, she found that she could not recall him ever smiling a full-blown smile.

He had tanned skin from practicing and playing football on the university's team. His whole body was like a brick wall as he was the best defense player on the team. Quick and agile, he was all hard muscle but moved gracefully and quickly like an antelope. She knew his body well enough, as he knew hers.

She was about 5'9 – average model height with swimsuit model features - A beautiful face with sunshine blonde hair, light blue eyes, a cute nose and full pink lips. She had the traditional swimsuit model measurements with high perky breasts that filled his large hand perfectly. A taunt stomach, curved hips and a toned butt that he seemed to love to curve his hands over. She had endless legs that were one of her best assets, but that was debatable.

She was semi-famous with the jobs that she had booked but she wasn't seriously pursuing it. Modeling was just a job she did for some extra cash. Truthfully she wanted to do more, something philanthropic but she didn't know to go about it.

She stopped her staring and was pulled from her thoughts when she saw that he had turned his head to look at her. His face pulled out from being directly underneath the pounding water, the water ran down on his chest and ran down his body. She opened the door to the shower stall, keeping her eyes on his as she stepped in.

She stood between his body and the wall in front of him and looked up at him. He moved in closer, crowding her into the tiled wall before wrapping his arms around her. He backed up under the spray and allowed them both to become soaked.

The water washed away all the sweat they had accumulated and they stood there for minutes still.

She had her arms wrapped around him as well; the side of her face leaning against his chest, the side of his own face was leaning on top of her head.

Even at her height, she barely passed the line of his shoulder, however their bodies still fit together like two unique pieces of a 1000 piece puzzle.

She pushed away from him slightly and he eased his grip on her as she slid her arms up around his neck to pull his face down for a kiss.

At first their kiss was chaste. Then she angled her head to get a little closer to his but he stubbornly kept his mouth closed. She bit down on his bottom lip that stung him a little and he opened his mouth to use his tongue to soothe the sting when she rubbed her own tongue against his.

By now, both of his hands were on her hips and he pushed her up against the tiled wall. From there, one of his hands ran up to cup her breasts; his fingers teasing the sensitive underside. His other hand moved down to the back of her taunt thigh and he moved his hand between her two thighs. He lifted up her thigh and had her opened and vulnerable to him.

Holding up her thigh high against his hip, she was standing on only one foot on the tips of her toes. He pressed her harder against the wall, using it to help him hold her up. He nudged at the core of her and teased her opening.

She moaned and scratched her nails against the base of his neck while the other hand gripped his shoulder. He stopped kissing her to move down her neck and kissed the underside of her jaw. She tilted her head back to allow him greater access to her throat.

He kissed her along one side then to the other before kissing her right behind her ear causing her to shiver in delight. He gently bit the shell of her delicate ear before kissing it. She had shocks of electricity shooting down her neck and pulsing in her core.

She rocked her hips against him, trying to get him to get to the main course from the foreplay.

He evaded her and she made a sound of frustration. With his head buried in the crook of her neck alternating between nibbling her skin and placing opened mouth kisses on it, he grinned but she never saw it.

Instead she moved her hands from where they were and tried to grab his tight butt and push him into her. His superior strength held him right at the entrance of her core, teasing her mercilessly.

"Please" she moaned. He growled slightly at her pleading, but made no move to satisfy her. She continued to rock her hips against his but he moved his hands down to her hips to hold her still.

She began thrashing between him and the tiled wall in her desperation but she did not say anything more. She knew that words meant nothing to him and her pleads fell on deaf ears but that didn't stop her from making sounds of frustrations.

One of his hands slid from holding her hips still down to stroke the bundle of nerves. He could feel how wet and giving her flesh was to his invading finger even with the shower running.

He slipped a finger in him and hit exactly where he knew was the spot that made her see stars. She responded immediately, arching her back presenting her breasts to him like an offering to a deity. He seized his offering in one mouth and worried the tip of her breast with his teeth then soothing it with his tongue.

He was always hovering over the line of pain and pleasure but she loved it. She had become so accustomed to it; she wanted it no other way. He knew her body like a finely tuned instrument – one touch or even a look would send lightning steaks of heat running through her.

She hated and loved the fact that he could do that to her. He was her secret addiction, one that she could never seem to get rid of no matter how hard she tried.

She fell apart in his masterful hands and before she could even fully recover from it, he surged into her.

She bit her lip to keep from screaming and was grateful for the wall and his strength for holding her up.

He set a fast pace, pounding into her, causing her to fall into a fevered frenzy. All she could do was hold onto him all the more. She clenched her inner muscles, his entering into her in a constriction bringing them even closer. He groaned into her neck.

She soon fell apart again and he soon followed her. She lowered her legs from around his waist and he slipped out of her. The running water ran down their bodies, washing the evidence of their coupling away.

He reached over and turned the shower off.

She was still a bit wobbly to stand on her legs, so he swept her up in his arms. He set her down on the long marble counter and reached for a towel for each of them.

He simply wrapped his towel around his waist and took back the towel he gave her. He slowly dried her body and she let him.

They both heard his phone ring, but he ignored it. He continued to dry her slowly with a towel.

"You should answer that," she said to him. He ignored her, only pausing slightly in drying her giving her indication that he had heard her.

She grabbed the towel from him and strode out of the bathroom wrapping the towel around her as she went. Blocking his view of her beautiful body from him as she went and grabbed his phone.

She noticed three things. The sky was dark and there was no moon. And the caller was someone named Mary.

Mary.

'Who is Mary?' she wondered. She felt something akin to jealously but quickly squashed it, scoffing at herself.

What right did she have over him and the rest of his life? 

They were not exclusive.

Hell, they weren't even public.

Just two kids fucking each other occasionally.

She handed him the phone, but it had already stopped ringing. But still not before she saw who was calling. She went back into the bedroom and began picking up her clothes that they strewn about.

She was a little embarrassed to find her underwear in the hallway outside his bedroom but she was oddly detached about it as well. She was not stranger gathering her clothes after the deed was done and donning them as she went about finding them.

She had on her underwear and her jeans and was holding her top. The towel lay on the bedroom floor as she wandered topless into the living room of his apartment looking for her bra.

She was unashamed and unabashed about her body. Being a model didn't make one body conscious.

Not having any success at finding her bra in the living room or the hallways, she went back into his room.

He was sitting on the bed wearing a pair of sweats when she walked him topless. She paid him no mind as she went around the far side of the bed to look for her missing bra. He was not struck dumbfounded at the sight of her only in her skinny jeans; rather he was awed at her beauty, but also somewhat sad for her.

Her emotional detachment was chafing at the very little emotions he allowed himself to feel and even the lesser ones he showed.

As she made to pass him again, he snagged her around her waist and tugged her down to sit sideways in his lap.

She let out a little 'eep' and caught his arm and shoulder on reflex to hold onto something. He had them cheek-to-cheek before he whispered, "Stay".

She made no move get up.

He laid down backwards, taking her with him.

And there they lay in the dark room, illuminated by one small lamp, before falling asleep.

--------------------------------

thanks to everyone who has reviewed me. I appreciate all comments – good and bad ones. I am sorry for the confusion that some of you may be experiencing while reading but this is a style of writing I am playing with.

Hopefully this chapter is more clear and enjoyable.

Thanks!


	5. Chapter 5

Silly me assumed that it was obvious that the guy who Mina is sleeping with in the last chapter was Kevin. DUH! Come on guys this is a classic character combo. Sigh well I hope you enjoy this chapter and its even clearer to what is going on.

1/24/08

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was another week before Serena saw Darien again.

The usual group was at a local pool hall that was a local college hangout. The pool hall was dimly lit and smoky even though the smoking laws had been in effect for a year plus already.

Serena was sitting on the sidelines along with Ami watching the three different tables being used. Lita, Raye, Jason and Zach were playing on one table while Nate and Kevin were playing one another. On the last table was Mina and Darien whose table was also the closest to Serena while the Lita's table was the farthest.

Serena glanced over at the farthest table and saw Jason oogling Raye as she was bent over the table lining up a shot.

'Damn,' he thought to himself as his eyes took in her beauty. He was a bit smug with pride knowing that she was his.

Raye missed the shot and cried out in anger and frustration. She turned to see Jason standing behind her and glared at him, daring to say something or laugh.

He did neither and instead went up for his turn and successfully make a different shot. He moved to line up another shot, putting him across from Raye on the other side of the table.

He winked at her before checking his angle. Raye bent over the table giving Jason an eyeful of her cleavage that was threatening to spill out of her low cut black shirt.

He blinked a couple times trying to clear his thoughts when he noticed a few other guys staring down her shirt as well.

He narrowed his eyes before taking the shot, landing it solidly into the pocket.

He stood up and glared at the guys' oogling his girlfriend who was still leaning on her elbows on the table. One of the guys oogling Raye felt the death rays Jason was trying to shoot out of his eyes and nudged his friends.

It was like a domino effect as they all noticed the angry boyfriend, looked away and went back to their own game.

Raye didn't notice this really as she looked up through her thick lashes and gave him a sultry grin. Jason went to her and pulled her up by her waist before pulling her roughly to him.

She gave a small whine that only he heard and acted hurt by his rough manhandling.

"You love it," he said to her before kissing the pout from her lips.

She gave a little moan before wrapping her arms around his neck, pulling herself up to even the playing field.

Or rather, even the kissing field.

"Oh please, get a room you two" Zach said, while Lita and Mina made gagging noises. Nate had come up behind Lita and Mina and said "Oh so does that mean that all that making out and sex we've been having is a chore?"

"NATE!" Lita said as her face turned crimson and she punched his arm.

"OUCH!" he said, rubbing the spot where Lita had hit him. Mina scoffed at Lita and said "Whatever, you know you love it".

"True. Why else would I put up this abuse," Nate said.

"Fine. You can sleep at your place tonight. Alone"

"Aw, baby. C'mon I was just kidding," he whined before following her towards the bar.

Mina rolled her eyes and glanced over at the other table where Kevin was. Since his game with Nate was over, Kevin was sitting off to the side, drinking his beer.

A brunette wearing a short mini-skirt and a low cut tank top sauntered up to Kevin.

Mina didn't hear what they were saying to each other and narrowed her eyes as Kevin smiled. He actually smiled at whatever the brunette was saying. Mina watched as the brunette brushed her fingers along his chest and rested her hand on his arm. Mina started to glare and her grip on the pool stick she was holding was threatening to snap the stick.

Mina caught herself and loosened her grip on the stick. She slowly glanced around to see if anyone noticed and let a secret sigh of relief when no one did.

She fantasized about taking the pool stick and shoving it up the brunette's ass and roasting her over a spit, then feeding the cooked girl to her family. Unbeknownst to them of course.

'Whoa,' she thought to herself. 'When did I get to be so violent? I have got to stop watching those gore films'.

Mina's latest movie choices had been leaning towards the Rob Zombie genre. And since Serena was somewhat terrified of major thunderstorms, there was no way she would watch movies from the Rob Zombie persuasions with Mina. So Mina ended up watching them herself.

'I wonder if Kevin likes Rob Zombie?' she wondered to herself. 'Wait a minute, is she leaning in closer? Is he seriously going to let this fly? UGH OH MY GOD WHO CARES IF HE LIKES ROB ZOMBIE. I AM ABOUT TO GIVE HIM A REAL LIFE REENACTMENT IF SHE-' her thoughts were cut off when indeed the brunette moved in closer and Kevin stayed where he was, thus closing in the distance between him and the brunette. Their personal bubbles were melding and Mina wanted nothing more than to suffocate them both.

The brunette was leaning against Kevin and he was saying something to her when his eyes met with Mina's.

There seemed to almost be a string of electricity that came from both of them meeting in the center causing an invisible comical explosion.

Mina was the first to look away and she moved towards the other table to stand next to Ami.

"Hey Ami" she said, as she tried her hardest to not look back towards Kevin.

"Hey Mina. Having a good time?" Ami asked as she took a sip of her soda. Mina looked at Ami in her sensible jeans, top and cardigan that slightly clashed with the environment. Ami always looked very studious. She was more of a Ralph Lauren Polo ad while Mina currently felt like shit in her oversized old shirt and sweats.

Mina was usually dressed up like she cared but for some reason when she woke up today she just looked at herself in the mirror after brushing her teeth and said 'Fuck It' and pulled on a sweatshirt and curled up in her bed. Class, smlash.

Ancient Greek History wasn't going to tell her what to do about Kevin.

Kevin. Oh. Kevin.

She thought about that night when he had asked her to stay.

------------------------------

FLASHBACK

------------------------------

_The following morning was a bit chilly. They were each curled towards each other under the covers with only their heads peaking out from the covers. Their legs were intertwined and they looked peaceful. _

_Deep even breaths that seemed almost synced together. _

_Breathe in. _

_Breathe out. _

_Breathe in. _

_Breathe out. _

_In. _

_Out. _

_In. _

_Out. _

_The peaceful atmosphere was interrupted by the shrill sound of an alarm clock. _

_Neither of them moved at first. _

_The shrill alarm kept going off only now the beeping was faster, trying to instill a sense of urgency in them. _

_She gave a little groan and rolled over, causing her to face the offending alarm clock. She opened one eye and glared at it, but not moving anymore to reach out and shut it off. _

_She was about to elbow him when he came out of the cocoon of warmth that they had created and reached over her to slam his hand on the alarm clock. _

_The silence that followed seemed strangely as loud as when the alarm clock was going off. _

_He sat up further and scrubbed his face in his hands. He stretched, popping a few kinks here and there. Scratching his chest, he didn't disturb her but his sitting position allowed a draft of cool air into the cocoon, which really bothered Mina. _

_She rolled back over and stared at his bare muscular back. She never thought a guy's back could be so sexy, but for some reason his was. _

_She didn't know what their relationship was now that he had asked her to stay the night before. She didn't want to make any assumptions. _

_Were they together? Was this way of him saying that he wanted more?_

_WHY COULDN'T HE JUST SAY IT? _

_Well, Mina it's not like you're jumping up to shout what you really feel or want either. _

_But at the moment, she was cold and he was ruining their cocoon. She was only wearing a pair of underwear, having slipped off her skinny jeans before truly settling in with him for the night. _

_She reached out and pushed at his hard back and pulled the covers tighter around her. This also caused the covers to uncover him. _

_He sneezed as the covers no longer generated any warmth to fight the slight chill in the room, but she didn't say "Bless You". Instead, she just settled in the charcoal sheets even more. _

_He looked back at her and found her staring back at him. _

_He didn't smile or frown - his face was blank. _

_Mina didn't smile or frown either. She wanted him to be the one to make the first move. _

_It wasn't like they had never fallen asleep together and woken up together. However, this was the first time that he had asked her to stay the entire night. _

_Usually if either of them fell asleep, the other would not disturb the one that fell asleep. She never once did spend an entire night. She usually woke an hour later, got up and left. Or he left. Whichever, they were always at his place, as he had no roommates. _

_He was the one to take the initiative the night before and now that she knew that he was capable she wasn't about to give up him acting first. _

_The ball was in his court and as far as she was concerned it was staying in his court. _

_He glanced over at the clock and moved to get out of bed. _

"_Wait" she said. She rolled her eyes mentally and wanted to smack herself in the forehead. _

_What happened to the plan to keep the ball stay in his court? _

_Well, then again she was never really that strong-willed. _

"_Can we just, talk about this?"_

"_Talk about what"_

_She sat up at this and looked at him like he had grown an extra set of eyes. _

"_What do you mean what? This! You just asked me to spend the night with you. You. The human rock wanted something. I thought that—" she stopped herself. _

"_Nevermind. Whatever," she told him and then got out of bed herself. She grabbed her jeans and grabbed her shirt. _

'_Screw the bra' she thought to herself, as she grabbed her sweater. She put the sweater on and ran her fingers through her hair. She then split her long hair down the middle before tugging each half over her shoulders to cover her breasts._

_It wasn't like a thin shirt and a sweater was going to hide the fact that she was braless. _

_She couldn't help the fact that she was perky._

_She wanted to stomp out of his bedroom, but managed to walk instead. _

_All the while hoping that he would say something or better yet – stop her from leaving._

_Tell her to stay and explain his request last night or even tell her if they even had a relationship. _

_She already had on both of her shoes and her bag on her shoulder, and he still hadn't said or done anything. _

"_Asshole" she whispered. She grabbed the handle to the front door and paused, straining to hear some kind of movement but instead she heard the shower being turned on and opened the door. _

_She slammed the door shut and stomped down the hall. She viciously punched the button to call the elevator and was still fuming as she got into her car and drove towards her apartment. _

"_Motherfucker" she muttered to herself, before slamming her palm on the steering wheel. _

_She shook her head and felt tears start to well up in her eyes. _

_She became even angrier with herself and cried harder. _

_Her vision was slightly blurred but she kept brushing her tears away. _

_She parked her car and by now was down to sniffling. She opened the door to her apartment. She knew that Serena wasn't up this early and thanked whatever god was out there for that. She didn't want any questions or pity at the moment._

_She wanted alone time. _

_To handle the new revelation to herself. _

_She had fallen for Kevin. _

_-------------------_

That was about a week ago.

Since then, he had made no efforts to contact her and she didn't seek him out either.

Even in her loneliest nights.

Neither of them were going to make the first move.

So they metaphorically stood at a fork in the road.

Even though she had been the one to initiate whatever it was between them, he seemed to be one ending it. He was basically withholding sex from her until she said it first.

It wasn't a secret that Kevin liked Mina. That was the only reason why Mina gave into him. But when she wouldn't acknowledge him publicly, he didn't seem to have a problem with it.

Oh how wrong Mina was.

And how the might flirt had fallen.

Three little words. That's all that she wanted from him.

Not of the 'love' kind either. It couldn't be that hard right?

But apparently it was as he had yet to say anything to her.

No he wasn't looking for love out of her either. All he wanted from her was some kind of public acknowledgement. He wanted her for himself exclusively. He didn't want her to seek any other male's attention and to deter the ones who sought her out. He knew that she was terrified of commitment, he didn't have a lot of faith in relationships either but there was something about Mina that drew him to her.

But he couldn't say just say that to her. He wasn't wired that way.

But he still felt something for her and he wanted to say so but he also secretly hoped that she would say something first so that he wouldn't have to.

Thus their current predicament.

He was getting fairly annoyed with the brunette who was wearing way too much makeup and perfume. He stifled another sneeze he felt coming on.

Out of the side of his vision he watched as Mina moved over to talk to Ami. He wanted to get away from the annoying brunette and go over to her.

So he did.

"Excuse me," he said to her, interrupting the brunette's attempt at a witty banter, and walking away from her. The brunette was quite put off and pouted as she watched him head over to Mina.

Sorry honey, but blonds really do get all the luck.

Mina didn't notice Kevin come over as she talked with Ami.

"Mina," he said to her "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

Mina and Ami both looked over at Kevin.

"Um, I'm talking with Ami here"

"It's okay Mina, we can catch up more later"

"No, Ami, its –"

"Go Mina" Ami said, uncharacteristically pushy as she got up and left Mina. Proving her point that their conversation was over.

"What Kevin?"

"I think you know what"

"Look Kevin, it's been fun and all but I am no man's booty call. Boys are _MY_ toys."

He frowned at her and was about to say that she wasn't that to him when she interrupted him.

"It's been a whole week already. I am not waiting around for your head to come out of your sorry ass to give me the time of day. I can tell the time myself. I do wear a watch"

He frowned even more at her choice of words. 'What in the world is she talking about?'

Mina knew she was babbling but at the same time her babbling kept her from jumping him and screwing him right there on the floor of the pool hall.

God he looked good.

Wearing a light wash pair of jeans, sneakers, and a gray v-neck shirt that had faded out letters on it made him the picture of a typical college student.

But to Mina who was slightly embarrassed by her own miscellaneous assemble - he looked damn fine. If her agent saw her, she would be having a heart attack.

Mina's agent believed that models should always look like models no matter what time of day or day of the year. "You never know when a client is watching or who could become your client," she had always said to Mina.

But what Mina's agent didn't know wouldn't kill her.

To Kevin, Mina looked beautiful no matter what she wore.

He especially liked her when she was au natural when she woke up in the morning. Her sleepy blue eyes that blinked slowly and her small morning smile was something he loved. Though he had only seen that particular look once and she didn't even know it.

"Mina, can we get out of here to talk"

She looked at him and shrugged. "Fine, whatever. Let's go"

They both left without saying a word to anyone.

However, their departure together was not unnoticed.

"Hey where are Mina and Kevin going?" Zach asked.

Everyone had already finished with their respective games of pool and were now sitting in a large booth. Baskets of fries with burgers and drinks were scattered on the tabletop.

"Dunno," Darien said before taking a bite out of his own burger. He chewed slowly and glanced quickly at Serena who was chowing down on her own burger.

"Slow down Serena! Please actually chew your food," said Raye.

Serena stuck out her tongue, which had bits of her burger on it before continuing to eat at her quick pace.

"Ugh, disgusting" Raye said. She leaned back in her chair that had Jason's arm slung over the back. He rubbed her shoulder and gave her a smile when she looked over at him.

She placed her hand on his thigh under the table and rubbed it slowly up and down. Jason's eyes widen slightly as her hand crept higher and higher.

She grabbed a fry from his basket and slowly chewed it. Acting oblivious to her other hand that was rubbing his thigh.

He grabbed her hand before she was practically rubbing him through his jeans. How was he supposed to get up and walk out with an obvious boner?

Raye acted innocent as she held his hand under the table.

He kissed her on the spot behind her ear, knowing that that spot was guaranteed a reaction from her.

Raye shivered as she left a streak of heat shoot through her. She glared at him but he just grin back at her. His eyes telling her, 'you started it'.

She leaned over and whispered in his ear, "Let's get out of here".

He smiled made no move to get up. Raye frowned as she expected him to make the appropriate excuse and get up. She wanted to go.

They were losing precious time when they could be having sex that much soon if he would get up.

But he made no move to get up, instead finishing the fries in his basket.

He liked the salt from his fingers, sucking slowly on his pointer finger. Raye watched him and squirmed in her seat slightly at how erotic she found him doing that.

Images of him sucking on other various parts of her flashed through her mind and she felt her face flush.

Were there even any more fries to be eaten? Did he have to be so damn sexy? Why were they still here? These thoughts ran like a mantra through her mind and Jason never made the move to get up to leave.

Well, if he wasn't going to do it, then she was.

"Well guys," she announced cutting into others' conversation and standing up quickly. "This has been fun but we have to go" She grabbed his hand and pulled him up. He quickly maneuvered her to stand in front of him, hiding his somewhat obvious arousal through his cargo shorts. He placed both of his hands on her waist holding her front of him as he smiled and made the appropriate good-byes to everyone before leaving.

"Don't forget about tomorrow night!" Serena called out to them as the two all but ran out.

Jason turned back and raised a hand signaling that he heard.

"Aw, they are so cute!" said Lita. Serena couldn't agree more, or be even more jealous.

"He is so whipped," Nate said before he quickly retracted as Lita glared at him, "I mean, yeah. They're great!" Lita was still glaring at him, but he kissed her cheek and she blushed.

Lita still acted like a teenage girl when it came to Nate and his public displays of affection. She was strangely shy about them but Nate obviously wasn't. She wasn't as shy as Ami, but then again Ami was in general a quiet shy person.

The rest of the group continued to hang out, enjoying each other's company.

A few other friends joined them at the table and somehow the conversation about a friend with benefits was brought up.

"No way, those relationships never work," said Susan – a girl who was in Zach's cellular biology class

"What are you talking about? Of course they work. In fact they are the best kind of relationships," said Neil, a guy who was in Darien's accounting class.

Serena only needed one man's opinion – Darien's.

"I think that they would work," Serena said, Everyone's attention was turned focused on Serena as she was the only girl so far who had expressed faith in the relationship.

"Probably works best if both parties are honest," she added in, slightly embarrassed at the attention and Darien staring so blatantly and intensely at her. His face gave no indication of his own opinion.

"Girls always make it messy," someone said.

"Whatever, sex in general makes it messy," another countered.

"Girls are way to emotional about it. They start wanting more and then you try to break if off but they cling to you like glue"

"Whatever, I've heard of guys who are that way"

"Okay name one that we all know"

"Well that's too hard, we don't know who you know"

"You have no proof"

"There is no such thing. Guys never get emotionally attached. We remember the main objective. This is a win-win situation for both parties"

"Guys are only ever concerned with one thing. Why buy the cow if the milk's free"

"Hey I happen to like my cow"

"You better like your cow or you're going to the meat market"

"Baby…"

"Okay either way let's agree to disagree. I still think it works if everyone is honest and open about it"

"Yeah the whole point is to just to fuck and not to have the extra stuff".

"Exactly".

"Guys are such pigs. Too lazy to actually get to know the girl"

"No see, girls just make it super hard sometimes and well.."

"Well nothing, relationships are more than just sex"

The argument went on for a few more minutes before it was interrupted by the pool hall flashing its lights twice signally that it was the end of the night.

Everyone got up and made their way outside.

Once outside, sober people were found and cars were filled beyond capacity before leaving.

Ami drove Serena, Zach and a couple other people to their respective homes.

Serena thought back as she got ready for bed.

Darien never did state his own opinion about a friend with benefits relationship.


	6. Chapter 6

1/28/08

---------------

Mina and Kevin walked out of the pool hall and towards the alleyway between the pool hall and the neighboring building.

The alley was dark and had a lone lamp in the middle with puddles of moisture collecting randomly. A dirty dumpster with more trash around it than in it gave off fumes of pungent old trash.

Mina crinkled her nose as she tried to keep her sweats from dragging on the ground, soaking up any of the mysterious puddles on the ground.

They stopped a few feet into the alleyway, with the lamp standing a few more feet away from them casting shadows over their faces.

At first neither of them said anything.

Mina was sick of this. He was the one who wanted to talk and now he wasn't even saying anything. It felt like he was waiting for her to say something.

Oh hell no.

"Look Kevin, I don't have time waiting around for you to say whatever it is you need to say. I'm tired, this hasn't been that great of a day for me and I want to just go home".

Kevin looked at her and wished he could actually see her face. All he saw was her body position and from her crossed arms and tapping foot, her body language was definitely saying impatience and a low tolerance.

Kevin stepped in closer to her, bringing their bodies closer.

His brain had shut down and all the words he wanted to say to her disappeared.

Why did this have to be so hard?

---------------

FLASHBACK

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_He had always had a crush on her. It was obvious to everyone. The first time he saw her in that bookstore, with the beginning of the semester of rush of students scrambling for the last used textbooks. She was reaching up on a high shelf trying to get a book that had been pushed back from the edge. She was wearing a jean mini skirt and a t-shirt that had the school's name on it with some flip-flops. Her stretching up caused her shirt to ride up and showed off her flat stomach, but since her back was to him, her smooth back was shown. _

_Kevin wasn't the only one that had noticed Mina. She was beautiful, and hard to miss. In addition, she was semi-famous for being a swimsuit model. She had posed for last year's calendar of girls on campus, making her one of the well-known students on campus. _

_But Mina wasn't malicious as was a common trait for other beauties, thus making her even more popular and well liked. _

_Kevin had always been a shy and quiet guy. He had a presence about him that commanded respect, thus keeping away the bullies when he was growing up. His tall and fit physique also helped keep the bullies away. His physique also attracted the females. _

_Girls loved Kevin's brooding personality and his football player physique but were soon turned off when Kevin wouldn't respond to their advances and hints. _

_It wasn't Kevin's fault. He had wanted to respond to a few girls but in reality he couldn't. Kevin was more of a gentle giant than anything else. He shot to his 6'5 frame at a young age and his strength came before grace. The combination of his natural shyness and clumsiness made a few of his younger years hard on his self-esteem. _

_However, Kevin soon mastered his strength and grew more comfortable in his skin. He was the university's star defensive player. But sadly, Kevin was still shy, especially around girls he thought were hot. _

_And to Kevin, Mina was smoking hot. _

_Which meant that Kevin was already reduced to this pile of mush with his tongue glued to the roof of his mouth just by looking at her. _

_But by some strange twist of fate, they had the same friends and Kevin was always around Mina. That gave him a distinct advantage over the rest of the male population at school however Kevin had yet to use his advantage. _

_It wasn't until that one faithful night when he was at home alone. _

_Instead of going out to some random house party, Kevin had decided to stay home by himself. He had his schoolbooks spread out on the kitchen table, however all he could do was stare out the window. _

_It was raining that night and as a particularly bright flash of lightening streaked across the sky, the electricity went out. _

_Annoyed, Kevin flicked the switch a few times to make sure that the lights were out and flipped it off in disgust. He went over to the kitchen, looking through the pantry and drawers for a candle. He knew his mother had left some somewhere when he had first moved in. _

"_Ah ha!" he said to himself as he pulled a set of emergency candles. Grabbing a cup from the cupboard, he stuffed in about 4 candles into one cup. He grabbed his stovetop lighter and lit all four candles. The light from the four candles was bright as he put the cup on the kitchen counter. He walked out of the kitchen and was about to settle on the couch when there was a soft knock at the door. _

_At first he thought he was hearing things, but went to check. He peeked through the hole and saw Mina. _

_He quickly opened the door to find her completely soaked with a sad expression on her face. _

"_Mina what happened?" _

"_Can I come in?" _

_Kevin wanted to smack himself on the head for not letting her in sooner and quickly opened the door wider. _

_He led her to sit on the couch as he went to the bathroom to grab a few big plush towels. _

_Mina opted to stand as to not ruin the leather couch. Kevin came back and wrapped a towel around her, placing one on the couch and then giving her the other to dry herself off with. _

_He went back into his room and grabbed a t-shirt a pair of his old sweats that he had grown out of before going back into the living room. _

"_Here, you can borrow these. You'll get sick if you stay in those wet clothes"_

_He held out the clothes to her but she didn't seem to be paying attention. She was staring out the sliding glass doors watching the rain pelting against the glass. _

"_Mina? You okay?" he asked her before setting the clothes on the coffee table. He sensed that she was deeply hurt. _

_She turned towards him and the sadness in her beautiful blue eyes was staggering. He wanted to kill whoever made her feel this way and to hug her close to him. _

_But he did neither. Instead he sat down on the couch next to her at a respectable distance. _

_She followed his movements with her eyes and finally spoke. _

"_You like me right Kevin?"_

_Kevin felt his face flush, as he knew that she wasn't asking about him liking her as just a friend. _

_She turned towards him, bringing one of her legs up on the couch as she sat facing him. She saw him blushing, and knew her answer. _

"_Kevin, look at me." He turned to look at her and slowly they leaned closer to each other. _

_When they could feel their breaths on each other's faces, he whispered "Mina…"_

_She stared into his beautiful light gray eyes and closed the last distance between their lips. _

_Kevin brought up his hands to bring her in closer, as Mina held his face between her hands. She wanted to keep him from pulling away but Kevin didn't want to be anywhere else than right there with her. _

_She angled her head to get closer as she got the taste of him, alternating between nibbling his lips and meshing their tongues together. He gave a little groan and the rush of power she felt from eliciting that kind of response from Kevin gave her a little thrill. _

_She tasted so sweet to him and at once he was addicted to it. He knew that he had to have more of her. _

_He kissed her along her jaw and down her neck, nipping at random places on her neck causing her to shiver in delight. _

_She panted against his ear and the rush of air against his ear urged him on. He leaned back into the couch and she straddled him before laying down allowing full body contact. _

_She pulled back to bring their lips together and kissed him again. He tasted so good, like a man and she loved it. But there were too many clothes between them so she sat up and pulled her wet shirt over hear head before throwing it away randomly. _

_He looked up into her face and slid his gaze down to her wet bra covering her luscious breasts, down to her smooth toned stomach. He slid his hands up from her hips and brushed his thumbs along the sides of her breasts, underneath her bra. _

"_Mina" he said before she unclasped her bra and threw it off. She leaned down to kiss him as he sat up to pull off his own shirt and to meet her lips. _

_He started to kiss down her neck, to her chest, causing her to throw her head back allowing him even more access as they both sat up to in equal height. She cradled his head to her chest as he gave open-mouthed kisses against her skin. _

_The bright candle slowly melted onto the countertop, the melting wax overflowing the cup – dripping onto the countertop._

_But neither Mina nor Kevin were aware or paying any attention. They were in the heat of the moment and there was no going back. _

_-------_

That was how their 'understanding' started.

She made it clear the next morning that all she wasn't looking for a relationship but she believed that they should continue on as they had the night before. A mutual physical understanding is what she had told him that she had wanted. At first Kevin was ecstatic to have her be with him and agreed but then he wanted more.

He wanted her exclusively.

When they were out, they acted as they always had. No one knew about their physical relationships and Kevin was jealous of all the guys she flirted with.

And now here they were in an alleyway and all Kevin had to do was say it. He feared rejection but what he didn't know was that it was already a done deal, as Mina wanted him too.

She just wanted him to be the one who admitted it first. She had her pride and vanity. Guys chased after her, not the other way around.

It made Mina conceited when it came to guys but guys were also always the ones who betrayed her. She needed Kevin, one of the best guys she had ever met, to say it. She needed protection.

She needed Kevin.

"Mina, I-" he started to say before his throat dried up. He cleared his throat, "Mina, I want – "

Mina looked up into his eyes earnestly, her body language changing from one of impatience to one of eagerness. She shuffled in closer to him and looked up into his eyes earnestly.

She bit her bottom lip, waiting for Kevin to say what they both had on their minds.

"Me too" she said. His eyes widen in shock at what she said. She never was good with patience.

He broke out into a beautiful genuine smile that Mina could see through the shadows of the alleyway. She smiled back as well and kissed him.

He leaned down to wrap his arms around her waist as her arms came up around his neck and he stood up with her in his arms, her feet dangling.

They twisted their mouths to get closer together.

And breathed a mental sigh of relief: FINALLY.


	7. Chapter 7

2.13.08

She felt so comfortable lying in her bed. Jason had stayed the night and was presently curled on his stomach next to her with one arm flung across her, his face nuzzled under her jaw.

She wondered what time it was as she readjusted the blankets over herself. The sun was filtering in through her drawn window, peeking out from beneath the curtains. She could very faintly hear doors closing, footsteps and voices outside her dorm. The walls were pretty thin in the old dorm hall.

Curiosity over what time it really was won over her desire to continue sleeping and she looked over at her bedside table at the digital clock.

It read 9:27AM. She yawned and stretched slightly, settling in to continue sleeping until her alarm woke her up.

Three seconds later, panic set in.

"SHIT!" she cried out as she leapt out of bed. "I am going to be so late!" A phrase all too reminiscent of Serena in her younger days.

Jason gave no indication at hearing her panic as she ran out of her room and into the bathroom. She didn't even have time to shower as she quickly brushed her teeth, washed her face and got ready for school.

"Jason! Why didn't you wake me up!" she cried as she reentered the bedroom to grab her clothes from her closet. She ripped off the plastic covering the dry-cleaned clothing, and struggled with the safety pins holding the skirt to the hanger.

"Dammit," she cried as she pricked her finger. She put her injured finger in her mouth and sucked at the blood. She glanced over at the clock and panic overrode her pain sensation. She yanked her finger out of her mouth and ripped off her oversized sleeping shirt and shot out of her worn cotton shorts.

Jason rolled onto his back and opened his eyes slightly to see his girlfriend wearing nothing but her underwear, running around the bedroom in her haste – one of his favorite sights.

He watched as she pulled on a black-laced bra, a dark purple button up shirt, before running to her drawers to pull out a pair of nude stockings.

"God I hate these" she said to herself as she slipped on the pantyhose. She had a huge presentation in her business class and was going to be late. She ran the hose up her legs, careful to not let her nails snag and cause a run.

Jason rubbed his eyes and yawned. He stretched before he rolled onto his side to watch her get ready, fully prepared to go back to sleep after she left.

Raye pulled on her skirt and tucked in her shirt. She found one of her shoes under the bed but couldn't find the matching one.

She scrambled over Jason to look on the other side of the bed and found the missing shoe. The said missing shoe was now being stubborn and wouldn't let her foot in. She sat down on the edge of the bed and put it on and was suddenly yanked backwards.

"JASON! I seriously don't have time for this!" she screeched as he held onto her shoulders. She turned to glare at him but he kissed her before she could yell at him some more. She fell into his kiss, but soon broke away – much to his dismay. She leapt out of bed and grabbed her bag before bolting out of room.

"Don't you have class today?" she yelled before slamming the door to her dorm.

'What is she talking about?' he thought to himself before snuggling back into bed. He shut his eyes and gave a little sigh.

That was when his brain was hit with panic as he realized that he had a huge biology test that morning. In a class that was coincidentally located across campus.

"SHIT!" he cried as he tripped out of Raye's bed.

This wasn't a good start to either of their days.

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There was a loud pounding on the door.

That wouldn't stop.

Serena groaned to herself and tried to bury herself further into the covers to dull the noise.

When that didn't help, she dug her head out as she yelled "MINA! GET THE DAMN DOOR!"

When there was no sound of Mina stopping the pounding at the door, Serena got really frustrated.

"Dammit, why on the day that I can finally sleep in without any guilt there is some fucker at the door pounding AND POUNDING!" she ended with a scream as she opened the door. She had a murderous expression that would have scared the toughest criminals locked up. However, her face did a complete turn when before her, with his fist still raised up to pound at the door was Darien.

"What are you doing—" she was interrupted when Darien swooped in and kissed her.

Her eyes went wide and her arms fell limp from holding the door open next to her body that was locked at a standstill – she was in complete shock. Before utter delight took over and she shut her eyes to enjoy.

His hands came up to cup her jaw line, his thumb sweeping across her cheeks. He forced her lips open with his own to trace his tongue against her bottom lip and to sneak a taste of her. He turned his head slightly and began to slowly walk her into the room, allowing the door to close itself.

He stopped and both of his hands came down to her waist and lifted her. She was caught off guard and squealed in surprise into his mouth but her legs automatically wrapped around his hips. Some old muscle reflex from when she was a child and her parents would lift her up in their arms.

This new angle brought her higher up against him and instead of him leaning down to accommodate her, she was now even with him. Her arms came around to circle his broad shoulders and he fit perfectly before her thighs.

He pushed her up against the wall to hold her up and stood with his legs apart to stand steady. One of his hands circled around her waist while the other slide up under her oversized sleeping t-shirt – the only thing that she happened to wear to bed the night before.

His warm hand sliding up her sleek thigh sent shivers up her back, before giving her butt a squeeze causing her to groan. She brought up one of her hands to cup his strong jaw and moaned when his tongue wrestled with hers.

He broke off and kissed her behind her ear then down her neck that suddenly was super sensitive. She bit her lip from crying out when he hit a particularly sweet spot. She squeezed her arms and her legs around him tighter. Bringing him in closer to the center of her legs.

He stopped kissing her and she it took her a delayed second to realize. She opened her eyes to see him staring at her – his eyes dark with desire.

"What is it," she said, panting slightly. He didn't say anything for a second before he opened his mouth to say something. But instead of Darien's voice, there was a cheery DJ Personality telling her the latest gossip, traffic and weather information.

Now she was really confused.

She jerked back, and her eyes struggled to dilate. The room came into focus and she realized that it was all just a dream. A dream that fully succeeded to leave her hot and bothered.

"Damn" she whispered.

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So someone pointed out that I had categorized that this as a Usagi/Mamoru fic and truthfully I intended for them to be the main focus. HOWEVER I couldn't pass up the fun on the other characters so I apologize for I guess misleading you guys. They are still going to be my main couple and I promise promise to have some real action for them coming up.

Thanks for all the comments and critiques.


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